This week was a very busy week for me. I’ll cover the intergenerational lunch, which in my opinion, was an amazing idea. I met fellow LGBT seniors in the community. I met some like Bob who enjoy country, Richard who was a teacher and overlooks frats at UCSD/SDSU, and Steven that represents multiple communities. One talking point I loved was when Bob told me the only way to defeat stigma and create intergenerational spaces is to learn to love one another. If we do not learn to love then we cannot respect one another’s points of view. Overall, this event was amazing BUT I do wish it was done last quarter or earlier on in the quarter. One, it was kind of intimidating to be alone and talking to around 5 seniors at once. So it was difficult to ask all the questions and get everyone to answer. Second, it would have been better if more students were able to make it. Only half the class came due to midterms, class, and HAP projects. Maybe we can do a Intergenerational Breakfast for next time? NOW my group’s HAP project actually was a great success. We went to Bayside on Friday and had an amazing turn out. Many of the Seniors told us they wished there were more events like Succulent making with Students. Shivani and I thought that maybe for next year, we can have more hands on workshops when visiting centers instead of just having talking sessions. We can make plants/art AND talk at the same time.
There’s not much to reflect on this week, other than that we’re almost wrapping up the quarter. I guess I’ll first reflect on the the book we read. I definitely like the second half of the book more because it goes into different lessons each senior goes through in their life. I definitely liked Jonas’ story because what I got out of it was that to be able to push away negative thoughts is to do and look at the things you care about. It’ll give you happiness and a sense of purpose in life. Overall, I did enjoy this book and recommend it for next year. I’m really excited about our HAP project and since I was out town this week, I definitely can’t wait to participate next week. I heard it was a great success from my classmates. I enjoyed preparing though by cutting the succulents out beforehand. Lastly, I’m really excited for this week and our “field trip” to the North Park center.
I didn’t know what to expect when coming to the West Center. At first I thought we’d only be able to talk to just one senior, but I had the pleasure of talking to three! Our first senior understood English but spoke better in Chinese. She came from China and traveled all over the US but loves San Diego because of it’s weather and how happy it makes her. Our next Senior actually saw our little activity from outside and came in to join. She was talking about the mistakes in her life that she’s made and how she didn’t taken her mental illness seriously. From her I learned that even with mistakes we must move forward and look at what’s ahead. Our last senior was a lady from Pakistan. She lives in Hillcrest and takes the bus to the West Center. She said she moved to San Diego because she has family here. She told me she’d love to go to the mosque but it’s far and she doesn’t have easy transport to get there. All in all, I loved our trip at the West Center. I felt I got to talk to a lot more seniors and listen to their advice/life stories. I felt the questions we had (although I don’t remember them) opened for conversations and even more questions. Which is really good.
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Leena LOZONWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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